Casino table game

ABSTRACT

The game is a table based card game that is generally played with a dealer, who deals the cards, and with players whom make the wagers. The game consists of multiple rounds and a player can wager and win on individual rounds or multiple rounds to make a “poker” hand. Additionally, there may be a progressive jackpot offered on the “poker” hands for players to wager upon.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application 60/925,333 filed on Apr. 19, 2007 herein incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to a card and table based casino game and in particular to a multi-round table game.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are an ever-growing number of casinos in the United States with an increasing level of competition between them to attract patrons. There is a need to devise new and exciting games of chance to keep the patrons entertained and increase the choices and diversity of games of chance available to individuals.

There are several casino style games of chance that have been in played for many years, such as Roulette, Black Jack, and Poker in limited forms. There have also been some recent inventive activities to find that one game which can find its place in the hearts of gamblers. Some of the more recent patents awarded for new games of chance include U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,200 to Smith and U.S. Pat. No. 7,195,242 to Terminel et al.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In its various respects, the present invention meets one or more of the above needs by providing a new game of chance that incorporates the excitement of a traditional card game, while giving the patron a potential high payout from their wager and increasing the choices and diversity of games of chance available.

The game is a table based card game that is generally played with a dealer, who deals the cards and with players whom make the wagers. The game consists of multiple rounds and a player can bet and win on individual rounds or multiple rounds to make a “poker” hand.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a top view of the game table described in the teachings of this invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a display tree described in the teachings of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In general, the present invention pertains to casino style table game. The game is played on any size table with a top graphic 20 the same or similar as shown in FIG. 1 and with at least one deck of playing cards or more, preferably using decks comprised of a standard fifty-two-card deck, more preferably with at least both jokers left in, although it could include even more than two jokers, bringing the total of each deck to about fifty-four cards. The exemplary graphic shown in FIG. 1 is not intended to limit the type of graphical representation of used in this invention. The representations of the playing card disposed on the table top can be in script, graphical form, or any combination of both.

The game is played with a dealer, who deals the cards and represents the “house” and with players whom make the wagers. A “game” starts with no cards on the table and continues until the final card is dealt (e.g. third, fifth, or seventh card). Within the game, there are multiple “rounds”, which can vary from as little as three to as many as seven or more in number, as discussed in the embodiments below. To start a game, the players place wagers (e.g. casino chips, cash, tangible property) anywhere on the entire playing field 22. Wagers can be placed on the outside 24 and inside 26 of the field 22, however bets may not cross the line between both inside 26 and outside 24, players may bet, or single round wager, the individual card to come out next, they may bet it on a split (2-way), or on a corner (4-way), on the outside 24 they may bet any suit, or color, they may bet any number, or the jokers. Additional, wagering includes the “poker hand bets” (which can only be made prior to the first card being dealt in the full-game). “Poker” wagers, or multi-round wagers, are preferably placed in a poker wager area 28 in a separate area of the field, as shown in FIG. 1. Optionally, the dealer may place the wagers in the poker wager area 28 for the players, thus restricting access to that area of the table. The poker hand wagers, eight in total, which consist of “Pair, “Three of a Kind”, “Straight”, “Flush”, “Four of a Kind”, “Straight Flush”, “Royal Flush”, and “Five of a Kind”.

Players, from as few as one to as many as ten or more, approach the table and buy in, with either cash or casino checks, and receive colored, preferably table specific chips, one unique color per player. The value of each of these chips is variable based off the player's buy in and once value is determined, dealer places a value marker on top of one chip of that color in the dealer area.

In a first preferred exemplary embodiment, Players make an initial wager, either inside 26 the field 22, outside 26 the field 22, or in the poker wager area 28 or any combination of these bets. Once these initial wagers have all been placed, the dealer takes the top card off the deck and places it face down as a “Burn Card.” A “Burn Card” serves numerous important purposes. First, this is used to completely mask the outcome card from view, disabling any marked card or potential thereof. Secondly, the burn card has the effect of tantalizing the player as to what might have been the next card (e.g. every other card in the deck instead of five cards in a row). Then the next card is flipped face up and this is the “Outcome Card”. The outcome card is placed in the outcome card place 30 on the table. The dealer then marks on the field the position that matches the outcome card and clears all the bets that have not won, (except the “poker hand” wagers which cannot be determined until outcome card number five is shown), then dealer pays the wins. It is contemplated by this invention that marking the corresponding position on the field 22 can be accomplished my many methods or marking means. In one preferred marking embodiment, marking is accomplished by the dealer placing a physical marker (e.g. a blanc chip, a figurine, or the like) on the field position corresponding to the outcome card. In another preferred marking embodiment, the dealer activates a switching device that illuminates the field position or a portion thereof, corresponding to the outcome. This completes a round. The players may bet the field 22 again towards what the next outcome card will be, and the process is repeated until the fifth round and last outcome card is shown, to which wagers are cleared and paid as before and if a “poker hand” has been made from the five outcome card then the correlating “poker hand bet” marked and is paid and the rest are cleared, completing the “full-game”. Once the entire field is cleared, a new “full-game” can begin again.

In a second preferred exemplary embodiment, Players make a one-time wager, either inside 26 the field 22, outside 26 the field 22, or in the poker wager area 28 or any combination of these bets. Once these one-time wagers have all been placed, the dealer takes the top card off the deck and places it face down as a “Burn Card.” Then the next card is flipped face up and this is the “Outcome Card”. The outcome card is placed in the outcome card place 30 on the table. The dealer then marks on the field 22 the position that matches the outcome card. The dealer then repeats the burn card, outcome card and marking steps (after the final time, dealer also marks any winning poker hand positions) until all outcome cards are showing. Only at this point, the dealer clears all the bets that have not won, and then pays the wins. This then completes a game.

In a third preferred exemplary embodiment, at the first opening of betting, players may place bets in any wagering area of the table. Anywhere in the field 22 of one card bets, (e.g. a single card bet, a two card bet, a four card or corner bet, a number or street bet, a split street bet, an any suit bet, a split suit bet, a color bet, an any number bet, an any face or ace bet, or a 3 way bet such as “One Eyed Jack or Suicide king”, or a joker with 2 aces split). Players can also place a one time bet towards a progressive jackpot, by placing a dollar into the “Progressive Jackpot” slot (in this example in a slot 34 in front of each player at the table), to which collectively pays those players (who placed the progressive wager) in that particular series of rounds. If a Poker Hand is made, the payout from the progressive jackpot is as follows: 5 of a kind pays from about 50% to 100% of Jackpot, Royal Flush Pays from about 30% to 60%, Straight Flush pays from about 10% to 30%, and 4 of a kind Pays from about 5% to 10%, it is contemplated that these payout percentages can vary and may be increased or decreased at the discretion of the house. It is also contemplated that one may choose other criteria for determining payouts from the progressive jackpot. For a player to win the poker hand “Progressive Jackpot” bet, players must wait through all single card betting rounds which results in all the cards coming out (for that game) and making a poker hand. Note that a Joker shown as part of the shown outcome cards, counts as a wild card, or has multiple values, and only the best possible poker hand wins.

After a short time, the dealer will close or stop allowing players to make bets, by stating “no more bets” or an equivalent phrase, at which time no further “poker hand bets” or “Progressive Jackpot bets” will be allowed until the next game begins.

The dealer removes the first card from the card shoe, keeping it face down, and places it in the box marked “card 1” 36 in the outcome card place 30, this is a burn card. Next, the dealer removes another card from the shoe and flips it up on top of the burn card in the box marked “card 1” 36. The value of this card is to be marked in the field 22 with a marking means, and all bets in the field that do not correlate to the card marked are cleared by removing them from the playing surface, preferably into a bin in the dealer area that will sort them by color, count them, making them ready to be placed in the dealer area again for purchase. With all losing bets cleared, the dealer goes through, and pays all winning field bets.

Following the completion of payouts, the dealer removes the marking means from the field and winning players are to clear their winnings. Once again betting for the field, except for the poker hand bets and the progressive jackpot bets, is open and betting on the outcome of card two can take place. The steps of dealing, placing, marking and paying again take place. The procedure repeats, until all outcome cards have been shown, after the final outcome card has been dealt and marked, the dealer will announce the best “poker hand” made, (if any) from the cards that have come out. Poker hands may use either joker (or both) as wild cards, if shown, to make the best five card hand. Note that a Joker shown as part of the shown cards, it counts as a wild card and only the best possible poker hand wins. From there the dealer clears the losing poker hand bets and pays the winning bets of the correlating poker hand.

Finally, if the poker hand made correlates to a win for the “progressive jackpot”, the players around the table who played the progressive for that round are paid by divided up the winning percent of the jackpot equally, if no jackpot hand is made, the players have lost, and their losing progressive bets may be added to the jackpot value for future games. The progressive jackpot can continue to accumulate value, game after game, until a player wins the pot or a portion of the pot. It is also contemplated that this progressive jackpot could be an amalgamated jackpot from any number of individual gaming tables. The value of this pot may be displayed at the table, for example, via a display tree shown in FIG. 2. It is contemplated that this display tree can display other information, such as but not limited to, pot values, last card or cards shown, last poker hands made and when, advertisements and promotional materials.

After the bets are paid on the entire table, the dealer clears the marker, and removes the deck from the shoe 32, gathers up all the cards and shuffles the entire card deck over again, and the process starts over with a new game.

In a fourth preferred exemplary embodiment, the game can consist of a total of up to seven rounds or more. In this case, the outcome of the poker hand would be determined on the best combination of five of the outcome cards, with any extra outcome cards being not used to determine the poker hand outcome. Additionally, it is contemplated that these unused outcome cards could be the basis for some other kind of wager.

In a fifth preferred exemplary embodiment, the game can consist of only three rounds. In this case, the outcome of the poker hand would be based only upon these three cards and poker wagers such as 4-of-a-kind and the like would obviously not be available.

In one preferred aspect of the invention, the Jokers used are not black or red, but are some other colors (e.g. a BLUE Joker and a YELLOW Joker).

In another preferred aspect of the invention, the game can be played with more than one deck of cards. The deck or decks of cards may be shuffled before the start of each game. The more decks of cards used, generally, the less often the cards must be shuffled. It is also contemplated that the deck of cards can be shuffled or randomized by a manual or automated process or a combination of both.

The wagering has preferred payout odds to keep the dealer or house profitable as well as keep the players excited and coming back for more. The payouts are as follows:

Inner and Outer Field Bets

Any Single Card (including a joker) range from about 10/to/1 to 100/to/1, preferably from less than about 60/to/1, and more preferably from less than about 47/to/1.

Any Split (2 cards) range from about 10/to/1 to 50/to/1, preferably from less than about 40/to/1, and more preferably from less than about 23/to/1.

Any Corner (4 cards) range from about 3/to/1 to 30/to/1, preferably from less than about 20/to/1, and more preferably from less than about 11/to/1.

Any Street (any single card in any suit) range from about 2/to/1 to 30/to/1, preferably from less than about 20/to/1, and more preferably from less than about 10/to/1.

Any Suit range from about 1/to/1 to 10/to/1, preferably from less than about 5/to/1, and more preferably from less than about 2/to/1.

Color bet range from about 0.5/to/1 to 10/to/1, preferably from less than about 6/to/1, and more preferably from less than about 1/to/1.

Any Face or Ace range from about 1/to/1 to 10/to/1, preferably from less than about 6/to/1, and more preferably from less than about 2/to/1.

Any Number range from about 1/to/1 to 10/to/1, preferably from less than about 6/to/1, and more preferably from less than about 2/to/1.

Suicide king/one eye jack 16 to 1 range from about 5/to/1 to 30/to/1, preferably from less than about 20/to/1, and more preferably from less than about 16/to/1.

Poker Hand Bets

Pair range from about 1/to/1 to 10/to/1, preferably from less than about 6/to/1, and more preferably from less than about 3/to/1.

3/kind range from about 2/to/1 to 10/to/1, preferably from less than about 6/to/1, and more preferably from less than about 5/to/1.

Straight range from about 2/to/1 to 40/to/1, preferably from less than about 20/to/1, and more preferably from less than about 10/to/1.

Flush range from about 3/to/1 to 80/to/1, preferably from less than about 40/to/1, and more preferably from less than about 20/to/1.

4/kind range from about 10/to/1 to 200/to/1, preferably from less than about 60/to/1, and more preferably from less than about 50/to/1.

Straight Flush range from about 10/to/1 to 1000/to/1, preferably from less than about 250/to/1, and more preferably from less than about 100/to/1.

Royal Flush range from about 100/to/1 to 10000/to/1, preferably from less than about 1500/to/1, and more preferably from less than about 1000/to/1.

5/Kind range from about 1000/to/1 to 25000/to/1, preferably from less than about 6000/to/1, and more preferably from less than about 5000/to/1.

The explanations and illustrations presented herein are intended to acquaint others skilled in the art with the invention, its principles, and its practical application. Those skilled in the art may adapt and apply the invention in its numerous forms, as may be best suited to the requirements of a particular use. Accordingly, the specific embodiments of the present invention as set forth are not intended as being exhaustive or limiting of the invention. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined not with reference to the above description, but should instead be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. The disclosures of all articles and references, including patent applications and publications, are incorporated by reference for all purposes. 

1. A card based table game, comprised of: (a) a table with a preset pattern of wagering compartments; (b) at least one deck of cards; (c) a single round wagering scheme; and (d) a multi round wagering scheme.
 2. The card based table game of claim 1, wherein the preset pattern of wagering compartments comprise an inside field and an outside field.
 3. The card based table game of claim 2, wherein the preset pattern of wagering compartments comprise a poker wager area.
 4. The card based table game of claim 3, wherein the deck of cards comprises a set of fifty-two playing cards with at least one joker card.
 5. The card based table game of claim 4, wherein the single round wagering scheme comprises a single round wager, a burn card, an outcome card, and a single round payoff.
 6. The card based table game of claim 5, wherein the multi round wagering scheme comprises a multi-round wager, at least five burn cars, at least five outcome cards, and a multi-round payoff.
 7. A method of playing a card based table game, comprising the steps of: (a) randomizing at least one deck of at least fifty-two playing cards and at least one joker card by a dealer; (b) placing a first wager or a portion of the first wager, by at least one player on at least one of a first outcome card or a multiple outcome card set; (c) removing a first card from the top of the deck by the dealer; (d) placing the first card, face down, as a burn card in a first outcome card place; (e) removing a second card from the top of the deck by the dealer, wherein the second card is the first outcome card; (f) placing the first outcome card, face up, in a first outcome card place; (g) indicating a result of the first outcome card by the dealer; (h) paying any player who's wager correlated to the result of the first outcome card; (i) clearing all wagering related to the first outcome card; (j) placing, optionally, a second wager or portion of the second wager, on a second outcome card; (k) removing a third card as the next burn card from the top of the deck by the dealer; (l) placing the third card, face down, in a second outcome card place; (m) removing a fourth card from the top of the deck by the dealer, wherein the fourth card is the second outcome card; (n) placing the second outcome card, face up, in a second outcome card place; (o) indicating a result of the second outcome card by the dealer; (p) paying any player who's wager correlated to the result of the second outcome card; (q) clearing all wagering related to the second outcome card; (r) repeating steps (j) through (q) for a third, a fourth, and a fifth burn card card, for a third, a fourth, and a fifth outcome card, and for a third, a fourth and a fifth outcome card place; (s) indicating the result of the multiple outcome card set; (t) paying any player who's wager correlated to the result of the multiple outcome card set; and (u) clearing all wagering remaining on the card based table game.
 8. The method of playing a card based table game of claim 7, wherein the joker card or cards have multiple values for purposes of the multiple outcome card set.
 9. The method of playing a card based table game of claim 7, wherein the result of at least one of the outcome card or the multi outcome card set is displayed on a display tree.
 10. The method of playing a card based table game of claim 7, wherein the deck comprises at least two decks of fifty-two playing cards and at least two joker cards.
 11. The method of playing a card based table game of claim 7, wherein the card based table game includes a progressive wagering step and a progressive wagering payout.
 12. A method of playing a card based table game, comprising the steps of: (a) randomizing at least one deck of at least fifty-two playing cards and at least one joker card by a dealer; (b) placing a first wager or a portion of the first wager, by at least one player on at least one of a first outcome card or a multiple outcome card set; (c) removing a first card from the top of the deck by the dealer; (d) placing the first card, face down, as a burn card in a first outcome card place; (e) removing a second card from the top of the deck by the dealer, wherein the second card is the first outcome card; (f) placing the first outcome card, face up, in a first outcome card place; (g) indicating a result of the first outcome card by the dealer; (h) removing a third card as the next burn card from the top of the deck by the dealer; (i) placing the third card, face down, in a second outcome card place; (j) removing a fourth card from the top of the deck by the dealer, wherein the fourth card is the second outcome card; (k) placing the second outcome card, face up, in a second outcome card place; (i) indicating a result of the second outcome card by the dealer; (m) repeating steps (e) through (l) for a third, a fourth, and a fifth burn card, for a third, a fourth, and a fifth outcome card, and for a third, a fourth and a fifth outcome card place; (n indicating the result of the multiple outcome card set; (o paying any player who's wager correlated to the result of the multiple outcome card set and any individual outcome card; and (p) clearing all wagering on the card based table game.
 13. The method of playing a card based table game of claim 12, wherein the joker card or cards have multiple values for purposes of the multiple outcome card set.
 14. The method of playing a card based table game of claim 12, wherein the result of at least one of the outcome card or the multi outcome card set is displayed on a display tree.
 15. The method of playing a card based table game of claim 12, wherein the deck comprises at least two decks of fifty-two playing cards and at least two joker cards.
 16. The method of playing a card based table game of claim 12, wherein the card based table game includes a progressive wagering step and a progressive wagering payout that carries over from game to game until a poker hand is made with the corresponding payout. 